


Rosewood

by pwr



Category: TAZ - Fandom, the adventure zone
Genre: Boyland Angst, Domestic, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Just self indulgent fluff, Slight AU where Killian and Carey weren't together by Crystal Kingdom, Taako is a terrible wingman, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-09-08 16:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8852179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pwr/pseuds/pwr
Summary: Carey is crushing; and boy is she crushing HARD. But she doesn't have the guts to tell Killian how she feels. When Magnus gives her the rosewood ring, Carey finds herself in a corner questioning her next move.Taako forces himself in as a wingman, Noelle is a third wheel, Carey tries to follow romantic tips from Taako, and more.





	1. Taako Appears Nonetheless!

She had never seen something so masterfully crafted in her life.

The scaly palm of her hand gently cradled the ring, and she lightly ran her finger across the fine carvings. The ring was beautiful; a beautiful rose carved blooming from the decorated band. Carey closed her fingers around it and sighed. This ring had one purpose, and she couldn’t control the feeling she wouldn’t have the guts to fulfill it. The band was much wider than a normal ring; if Carey were to put it on her own hand it would slip right off. The ring was made to accommodate the burly hand of an orc. One certain orc. She couldn’t put how grateful she was to Magnus into any type of coherent thought or word; all she knew was it would end up on Killian’s hand sooner or later. Probably later. Definitely at some point. The way she had been presented the ring made it seem like it was an engagement ring or something, but Carey brushed off that thought. Magnus couldn’t have thought that far ahead, could he? Carey could just give it as a really matrimonial seeming gift that was just a ring. ...At some point. Eventually, sometime, she would totally show her the r-

“...Shit.” Carey shot up from her bed and ran to her dresser when the thought shot across her mind; what if Killian saw the ring? She scattered her belongings in the drawer until she had sufficiently buried the ring out of sight.

A small breath of relief escaped her nostrils as she shut the drawer. She had at least an hour to herself, but paranoia still reigned victorious. If Killian had come back early and seen the ring, Carey may have just died right there and then. The relief slowly melted to guilt as the Dragonborn gripped her dresser. She never hid anything from Killian; they were best friends (perhaps more...?), ⅔ of the best seeker team in the Bureau. Deep down she knew there was no guilt in hiding a gift like this, but Carey was never the best at controlling her emotions. She had the duck puzzle to give on Killian’s birthday; the date was fast approaching. But the whole engagement vibe about the ring sorta terrified her. If Killian saw it, any chance of hiding her feelings would be out the window. It had a ROSE on it, for god’s sake.

Carey took a deep breath and sat back down on her bunk; her tail swished across the fabric of her sheets, slightly roughed up from loose scales ripping into it in the night. She needed to chill, like, yesterday. Killian’s birthday wasn’t for another two days, she had plenty of time to prepare herself emotionally. But right now, Carey needed to chill. ...Well, nothing calmed her down like a good training sesh. Sniping some fake sweet loot off the dummies in the rogue training area sounded awesome right at that moment. Maybe Avi put some jerky in their bags again for her. That would’ve been rad.

Carey was halfway standing when a loud rap at her door almost shot her soul straight into the astral plane. She scrambled up and went to her dorm door. Whoever it was, it wasn’t Killian; she had the key. And the dark elf they shared a room with would just burst in (..Carey completely forgot their name all the time).

“Who is it?” Carey called with a tense tone through the door (damn dormitories didn’t have any peepholes).

“Oh! Sorry to disturb you, but, uh, is Killian there by any chance?” A voice replied. There was absolutely no mistaking the legendary (a very loose definition of legendary) wizard Taakos voice. There was only one other person who spoke like that, and he was **super** dead. Deader than dead. Imagine being dead, and make it even deader.

“NNNNnnnnoooo..? She got called away a few hours ago. It’s just me.” Carey sighed and relaxed against the door.

He probably stole something from Killian again and wanted to return it for once. That was the rational explanation.

“Oh, well that sucks. Can I talk to you then? We’re buds, right Carey?” He tapped against the door.

“...Yeah? I guess so. You saved my ass; I guess that makes us buds.” She slowly opened the door and **dear god what is this man wearing**.

The wizard pulled down his cartoonishly large, round Hollywood-esque sunglasses. Carey swore he dressed that morning by throwing his wardrobe into the air and taking whatever fell on him face first. He was wearing a purple fur coat over a beige top tucked into a gold-trimmed hot pink skirt. She didn’t even want to strain herself thinking about his hat. The hat that made him seem a foot taller than he really was, and was generally extra in every sense of the word.

“What.” The weak rhetoric fell out of Carey’s mouth as she looked Taako up and down.

“What what?” The wizard peaked an eyebrow.

“Do you-uh-do you do missions.. Dressed like that?” Carey already knew the answer, but her eye twitched as she observed the fur coat again.

“Oh no, this is for special occasions,” Taako waved his umbrella staff dismissively, “I just couldn’t be bothered to get changed this morning.

“You slept in that?”

“Elves don’t sleep, darling. Now may I come in? I got some real bullshit to pour on you.” Carey stepped aside to allow the wizard to romp inside the dormitory. She couldn’t help but let herself get caught up in what he could have possibly been doing to warrant that outfit.

Taako sat in an empty chair, legs crossed, and kept his eyes on Carey the whole time she slowly closed and relocked the door.

“Ok, uh, pour it on me.” She finally turned and sat on her bed to face the high elf.

“So, I have this problem,” His hands lifted in the air to signify a real doozy of a rant, “So, uh, we go on a lot of missions, right? I mean we; my own team. That whole debacle with that douche..uh, what’s-his-name-”

“Lucas?”

“Yeah, him. That was the last time WE, as in you and I, worked together. But we fought that reaper cat together, so we’re amigos, right?” Taako rested his head on his hand, smiling.

“Did you have a reason to come here orrrrr….” Carey dragged, perking an eyebrow.

“RIGHT, right. So, is one outing together too early to start venting about your love life?” Taako continued before Carey could answer, “I’d talk to Killian, but she’s off f*cking-who knows where. And I have this problem, every single mission we, my team again of course, I seem to come back with… At least one person gettin’ it bad for me. You ever deal with that?”

Carey stared at Taako before blankly confirming, “Every, uh, every time you go on a mission… Someone falls in love with you?”

“Bullseye. So when I run into them again, it’s, uh, awkward.” Taako’s tone fluctuated heavily; probably remembering the encounters. In the distance, a DM reminds Taako that it was totally his fault for adding he makes everyone horny on his goddamn character sheet.

“And you’re asking me for advice?” Carey snickered, her tail slapping against the bed in amusement, “I don’t even have ONE person in love with me, bro.”

Taakos eyes widened, and he tilted his head slightly in confusion. His expression was one of… intense perplexion, as if what Carey had just said was absolutely impossible; that couldn’t be it, could it? What did Taako know that she didn’t? Did Taako like her? Because she was far too gay to deal with that.

“Are ya sure about that, kemosabe?” Taako grinned wide with amusement.

“Um… Well, yeah.” Carey pulled in her arms in a hot shame.

“Well f*ck, forget about MY love problems!” Taako shot forward to stand in front of Carey before bowing to meet her eyes, “You’re the one that needs help here, my dude.”

Taako shot around quickly, swapping items from his inventory at random and creating quite a scene, while Carey sat and stared, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re, like, super confusing, Taako?”

“Plenty.” The wizard returned with a spell book. He flipped through the pages with a devious expression before landing on one page. Taako retrieved his Umbrastaff and lifted it vertically.

“Taako, what the-”

“I’m going to cast **ZONE OF TRUTH!** ” Taako exclaimed with glee, causing his staff to glow and cover the room with a faint, pulsating light. An exhausted DM recording at like 3 AM allows it, though Taako cannot actually cast Zone of Truth. Carey felt her brain fog up. Mischievously; Taako grinned and rested his Umbrastaff.

“Carey, darling, do you want someone in your life?” His grin gave away every bit of subtlety his actions could have held.

“I’ve had my eye on someone since I joined, dude.” The words escaped Carey’s mouth before she even had time to think about it. Fog; that was all her mind was, truthful fog.

“Shoot me a name and I can help you jump those bones, my man. I’ve got more than baking tips up my sleeve.”

“Uh-Well, it’s Killian.”

“...HA! I FUCKIN’ CALLED IT! MERLE TOTALLY OWES ME THAT GOLD-” Taako’s excitement faded as he collected himself, “Ahem, I mean, that can be arranged.”

The fog cleared, and Carey was now aware she had just blurted her crush right to Taako. She reeled back in her chair and covered her face in embarrassment.

“Carey Fangbattle, you can totally get the girl. I am-...Is-Ok, Zone of Truth is over-100% confident in my ability as a wingman!” He put his hands on his hips triumphantly.

“Have you ever even, uh, been a wingman before?” Carey inquired, pretty suspicious of the situation. Taako waved his hand and made a ‘pfffft’ noise before repeating his stunt of pulling various crap out of his inventory before finally pulling out absolutely nothing and sitting down again. The entire thing was pointless, but then again, this was Taako.

The door clicked suddenly. Carey immediately rose and went to unlock the door from the inside. Taako turned and smiled as Killian finally came in.

“Hey Taako.” Killian waved, “Am I..Er, interrupting something?”

“Oh, no-no-no-” “Yes, absolutely.” Carey and Taako tried to answer at the same time. Carey gave Taako a death glare.

Killian’s face fell slightly, “Oh, uh, I’m sorry. Should I go?”

“That won’t be necessary, dear, I was just about to leave!” Taako stood up, still grinning, like a shithead. Killian saw Taako out, and closed the door, letting out a heavy sigh. She kept her head hung as she sat down on her bed.

“Killian? You good?” Carey’s face fell in concern, and she quickly moved to Killian’s side. She looked down at Carey and let a weak smile fall on her face in appreciation.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just… Uh… I was just at the director’s office. She, uh… She put us in temporary suspension.” Killian’s smile was gone just like that, and she hung her head again.

“Wait, WHAT? Why?” Carey reeled back.

“We didn’t do anything-just to clarify, uh, it’s about Boyland.” Her face strained, “She thinks we should stop working for a while and… work out our grief, I guess.” A weight fell on Carey’s chest, and she laid a hand on Killian’s arm.

Nobody had been quite the same since their loss on that mission. But Killian and Carey, they were the ones arguably most shattered as his former teammates.

“Killian, you know he wouldn’t have wanted us to beat ourselves up over it. The Director’s right, we should just… take it easy for a bit.” Carey smiled up at Killian, trying to hold back her own pain.

Killian smiled back, rubbing her watery eyes, “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll tell Noelle that Sweet Flips is gonna have a girl’s week.”

“Rad.”

* * *

 

Carey didn’t sleep much that night.

She had the bunk right above Killian (a consequence of Killian insisting Carey get the better bunk and Killian being far too heavy to be on the top of a bunk bed), and she couldn’t help but look below her. Killian was sound asleep, and Carey couldn’t help but stare and pick up all her little sleeping quirks. Her hair was a mess from tossing and turning, she didn’t take her piercings out before bed, her teeth poked through her lips so menacingly and yet beautifully… And her arm was tight around a stuffed duck (colloquially named Quackers).

Carey caught herself mid-sigh, and quickly turned back into her bunk. She knew Killian slept too heavily to have heard, but her face burned up anyways. What was she, a teenager falling for their first crush? Carey Fangbattle; hardened rogue and expert thief, sighing dreamily? She flopped face first into her pillow.

What Taako had said began resurfacing in her mind. Yeah, like she trusted that guy to be her wingman.She didn’t want to necessarily… ‘jump Killian’s bones’, as he had put it. Maybe she just wanted to get a bit closer. Maybe she just wanted to hug her for a few seconds longer than normal, take it slow, be held in her strong arms, see her smile and laugh as she looked at Carey lovingly, kiss her perhaps…

Carey smooshed her face further into her pillow. Just thinking about those kinds of things with Killian made her face burn, her chest flutter, and her tail itch to wag and slap against the bed. She shuddered and covered herself in the covers. She had always had these feelings, but something about then felt much more intense. It felt as if someone had cranked a dial on her heart. Maybe it was Boyland’s passing, maybe it was Magnus confiding in her about Julia, maybe it was the week ahead doing nothing but spending time together…

In all truth, Carey couldn’t sleep one bit.


	2. Roll A Subtlety Saving Throw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having been relieved of duty for a week, Team Sweet Flips decides to have a girl's day out to prepare for Killian's birthday. Taako gives more advice, Noelle gossips and third-wheels HARD, Carey wonders how the hell you 'subtly kiss' somebody, low charisma = miscommunications, and Killian gets mixed signals.

Killian was up bright and early, full of energy and ready for the day. Carey was the opposite of all of those things. She was a sleepless, groggy mess.

“ _Killliiiaannn…_ ” Carey groaned.

“ _Whaaaaat?_ ” Killian echoed from below her.

“If I roll out of bed will you catch me?” 

Killian snickered, “Can’t you climb down?”

“I’m too tired…” Carey whined overdramatically.

“Alright, trust fall time again. Lay it on me, Care-bear.” Killian tried to sound miffed, but she was still grinning.

She rolled over the edge of the cot, and sure enough, found herself caught in Killian’s arms. Carey couldn’t help but laugh as Killian readjusted her to carry her bridal style. She only laughed more and covered her snout.

“You good?” Killian giggled.

“Yeah, of course!” Carey grinned back.

“I told Noelle about our plans today. Get dressed, we’re going for breakfast, you’re getting coffee whether you like it or not, then we’re gonna go shopping.” Killian was gentle to put Carey down on her feet.

Carey rummaged through her drawers to find a suitable outfit. Taako was really dressed up… Maybe she should get dressed up too? Carey frowned as she pulled out the only non-torn clothes she owned; a tank that read “GOLDCLIFF: BE CAREFUL OF THE CLIFF, LIKE, SERIOUSLY” she got as a souvenir once, and a pair of jean short shorts (none of the normal shorts had tailholes). Regardless, Carey decided this was good enough.

As she struggled to pull the shorts up (were these even her size?), an impulse ran across her thoughts.  _ Look at Killian _ . Carey tried to hold back the thought; that was weird! Killian’s getting dressed over there! That is so weird! She hated herself for being s-Carey looked behind her at Killian.

All she could see was Killian’s back as she brushed out her hair, but she had yet to put her top on. Carey made a sharp inhale as she realized she was totally peeping. Killian’s back was scarred from battle, but Carey could see just how broad and strong her shoulder blades were and the back of her bra and-

Carey swivelled back around to face away and covered her cheeks. Did she really just do that? Did Killian notice? She may have been a rogue on the chaotic spectrum, but she was no peeping tom! 

She quickly dressed herself, throwing a scarf on top of the outfit to help regulate her temperature while they were out and about. Killian finally put her shirt on and turned around from her dresser’s mirror.

Killian was wearing the Camp Goodfriend official t-shirt.

“Killian, oh my GOD!” Carey gasped, falling into a fit of giggles.

“Come on, it was fun! We are officially recognized as Good Friends because of this shirt!” Killian huffed, crossing her arms.

“You had to carry Angus for most of the trials!”

“So? That’s what a friend does!” Killian stepped over and lifted Carey into her arms again, “Friends carry their much lighter and vulnerable friends!”

“Oh, shut up! I am NOT vulnerable!” Carey protested, hoping Killian didn’t notice her quickening heartbeat.

Killian put Carey down and pet her head affectionately.

“Come on, Noelle’s waiting for us at the cafe!”

 

* * *

 

Carey drank her coffee in record time. She  _ needed _ that sweet, sweet caffeine to flow through her and replace a normal sleep schedule. Bureau coffee wasn’t the best, but it was tolerable. Nobody quite liked it, but nobody complained either. But this cup of coffee was like goddamn ambrosia to Carey that morning.

Noelle was given a battery to eat (somehow), and Killian had gotten five croissants. That was a ridiculous amount of French (from Fantasy France, of course) pastry, but she was an orc after all. She always ate big portions like it was normal. 

“Hey Noelle, has that Kravitz dude given you any flack?” Carey asked, laying her head in her hand.

“Not yet. I hope he lets me stay for as long as we bargained, it’s… Well, it’s fun to be here with all of you!” Noelle chirped, shrugging her disproportionate shoulders.

Carey and Killian made a synchronized ‘aw’ noise and hugged the giant robot.

“Speaking of Kravitz, did you tell Killian what Taako said to him?” Noelle beeped.

“Oh my god. So yeah, we met Death himself, and the first thing-the-the first thing-” Carey could barely speak through her laughter, “THE FIRST THING that Taako says is, you ready, oh my god, he says… ‘HEY THUG WHAT’S YOUR NAME I’M-I’M GONNA TENTACLE YOUR DICK!’”

The trio burst into laughter; half for the fact Carey did a poor impression of Taako to say that, and half for the absurdity of it all. Killian and Carey ended up wheezing for breath and with tears streaming down their face, but Noelle was just making laughing noises, as robots do.

“That-THAT is something Taako would say!” Killian coughed, trying to gather herself.

“Would say what?”

The three turned to look, and there he was. There he fucking was; Taako, just casually eavesdropping.

“Oh, sorry-uh-we were just joking around.” Noelle tried to back up on the obvious mockery.

“Joking around behind my back, that’s what’s poppin’ this morning? Whatever, Carey, come with me.” Taako leaned down to Carey’s eye level, “I’d like to continue what we were discussing last night.”

“Oh, uh, alright?” Carey very hesitantly rose from her seat, “Uh, sorry; Killian, Noelle.. It’s kind of important.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Uh, have fun, I guess.” Killian’s face had fallen, and her eyes flicked from Carey to Taako before landing back on the table. She lifted a hand to motion a goodbye.

Taako literally pulled Carey out of the cafe and towards a certain area of grass in the campus, underneath a spiraling tree.

“You ready to get schooled on the art of romance, homie?” Taako asked with an expectant grin.

“Uh-Yeah, but, any particular reason you took me to this tree?” Carey inquired, looking up at the leaves.

“Well, in my experience, trees are a pretty sapphic thing, you know? Trees can _literally_ be made of lesbians.” He was completely serious, “That’s your first lesson. Trees are gay.”

“Taako, can you  _ actually  _ teach me shit?”

“Of course I can, my dude.” Taako tapped his Umbrastaff on the ground, “LESSON ONE: You gotta be subtle. You know, drop little hints, get a bit touchy feely, that stuff.”

“Define ‘touchy-feely’.” Carey squinted at Taako.

“Well, I mean, when you’re together you gotta cuddle up with them just because you can. Maybe you can, like, hug her and rub her back a little bit, I heard girls love that. Or just stare into their eyes until they look away, that’s good too. Get INTIMATE with it, dude!” Taako waved his hands in the air.

“Okay, just making sure you didn’t mean, uh, getting _ ‘touchy’. _ ” Carey avoided eye contact as she did air quotes with ‘touchy’; she was very, well, inexperienced with anything that far, and this is a general audiences fanfiction.

“Oh no no no, you can’t do that right away! Trust me, that’s the worst mistake you can make. Of course, everyone has different experiences and urges and comfort zones, but I’m leanin’ on sticking with sickly-sweet fluffy fluff for now. You dig?” 

“I dig.” She relaxed again.

“So, it’s Killian’s birthday tomorrow, yeah?” Taako put a finger to his chin inquisitively.

“....TOMORROW? OH FUCK, DUDE I AM NOT PREPARED!” Carey stumbled back, grabbing her head. Was it really  _ that _ soon?

The wizard laughed at her reaction, and waved his hands in a ‘settle down’ motion.

“You got her something, right?”

“Of course I did! I’ve been saving it for a couple weeks now!” Carey confirmed.

“Well, I think you can give her something on top of that.”

Oh  _ god _ , he didn’t know about the ring did he?

“How about you give her a little birthday love?” Taako blew a kiss, “A little smooch on the cheek?”

Okay, the secret was safe. For now.

“I mean, she’s pretty tall, I’d have to stand on something..” Carey rubbed her arm sheepishly. 

“At least she’s alive, am I right?” Taako joked. In the distance, a DM reminds him nobody knows about that and asks what the hell he’s even trying to do.

“..What?” She tilted her head.

“Uhhhhhh, nevermind. It was just a goof. Anyways, you should totally kiss Killian.” Taako’s voice wavered with slight fear instead of wavering like normal.

“...You don’t kiss dead people, right? Because the way you’re doin’ right now, it doesn’t  _ seem _ like a goof.” Carey pressed.

“Oh god, no, not dead, uhhh, uunnndead?” Taako backed against the tree defensively.

“...Ok, I can live with that. Noelle’s technically sorta undead.” Carey sighed, placing a hand on her hip.

Taako sighed in relief, once again using his Umbrastaff to point at the Dragonborn.

“Remember that, alright? Be subtle, and give her a lil kiss for me tomorrow, got that?” 

“...Wait, how do I kiss her subtly?” Carey tilted her head.

“FIGURE IT OUT!” Taako turned tail and ran in a random direction, leaving Carey alone under the tree. 

What the  _ hell  _ was a subtle kiss?

 

* * *

 

“Killian!” Carey called, running down the aisle of Fantasy Costco towards her and Noelle.

Killian stopped her cart on a dime and her face brightened up, “Carey! What did Taako want?”

“Oh, he just wanted to tell me that trees are gay. Whacha got?” Carey peered into the cart.

“Jerky-” Killian was interrupted by Carey fist pumping for a second in excitement, “Some robot repair kits just in case, the good bread that Garfield hides behind the bad bread, and Noelle thought she could sneak a birthday cake in there.”

Noelle hung her head down, “I thought you wouldn’t notice…”

Killian just laughed and stood on her toes to reach Noelle’s head and give her a robot noogie. Noelle laughed too, trying to protect herself from the onslaught.

“You can’t eat it until tomorrow, okay?” Noelle leaned towards Killian.

“Okayyy, I won’t sneak any.” Killian rolled her eyes playfully.

The team continued shopping, picking out clothes and joking with each other. Carey inclined to stay slightly closer to Killian than the normal radius of personal space, but Killian barely seemed to notice.

In fact, Carey was sure Killian hadn’t noticed until she turned her head down and grinned, “You need me to carry you again, Care-bear?”

Carey was taken so off guard, and so flustered, she let a small ember escape her mouth alongside a feeble squeak. Killian only laughed and wrapped her arm around Carey.

“I’m kidding, but if you’re really tired I’d be glad to carry you.” The orc’s tone was sweet and genuine, and Carey felt the dial on her heart being turned up even higher.

Since Killian had already seen the cake, Noelle had no shame grabbing streamers and party hats for the next day. She even asked Garfield for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY KILLIAN streamer. Noelle wanted to go all out about this, much to Killian’s embarrassment.

“Noelle, our dorm isn’t big enough to, uh, decorate this much.” Killian played with her hair nervously.

“It isn’t. But I know someone who’s willing to host the party.” A small button on Noelle’s head flashed, simulating a wink the best she could.

Carey looked at Noelle, puzzled. Who was hosting? It couldn’t be Avi, he’s always busy with the bubbles. Davenport was… Davenport. Johann was too busy writing his mixtape. All their mutual friends were down, except for…

“Mags?!!!” Carey exclaimed suddenly.

“Yeah! Magnus said he’d be glad to host the party in his special housing.” Noelle chirped happily.

“So… Taako AND Magnus will be there?” Killian asked, with her muscles tense but trying to keep a smile.

“Correct! ...Killian, you seem upset. Are you mad at Magnus and Taako?”

“Uhhhh, well, no. Not exactly, it’s, it’s complicated.” Killian looked away. A small shudder shook her body.

Carey felt immediate concern. Killian seemed really steamed that they’d attend her birthday party. ...Or was that nervousness? Carey didn’t want to overthink the situation but… She couldn’t shake that one thought that maybe Killian was interested in one of the boys. The thought could shatter Carey if she let it, but she kept it back, she kept it in control.

“...Dang, it’s pretty late. Wanna head back?” Noelle broke the silence.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Noelle left the trio to drop the goods off at the boys’ dorm, leaving Carey and Killian to walk back home in silence. Carey, not wanting her thoughts and nerves to get the best of her, kept a strawberry lollipop from Fantasy Costco in her mouth. The act of licking and focusing on the artificial flavors soothed her.

Killian had been looking at the ground the whole walk, but once they reached their door she turned to Carey.

“Carey… What’s up with you and Taako? Why is it so...uh… secretive?” Killian mumbled, looking at the door.

“Taako? Oh, uhhh, he’s been...giving me lessons.” Carey stumbled.

“...Lessons?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah! I mean it’s not like we’re running off together for scandalous reasons!” Carey blurted, before completely freezing in horror. That sounded  _ so fucking bad _ . Why did she say it like that?!?

“...Kay..” Killian mumbled, turning to open the door. She seemed so crestfallen, and Carey nervously played with her claws.

When they got inside, Killian just laid in her bed and turned away without even changing.

“Goodnight, Carey.” She mumbled again.

Carey wasn’t sure exactly why her fuck-up had upset Killian, but the thought of making Killian upset, even cry… Was enough to make Carey’s own eyes water. Even if it was because she liked Taako, Carey couldn’t stand the thought of making her best friend cry.

She plodded over to the bed and laid herself on Killian’s body.

“...I’m sorry, Kils.” Carey sighed, “I just, uh, I.. panicked. I swear it’s not like that. He’s giving me lessons on charisma. That’s it, I swear. Are we cool…? Please tell me we’re cool…”

Killian was silent for a few moments. 

“We’re cool.” The grumbling had transformed into a wavering sigh, and she turned to look at Carey, “Hey, uh… If you wanna make it up to me, gimme a lick of that lollipop.”

Carey pulled the candy out of her mouth without any hesitation or thoughts and handed it over. Killian placed it in her own mouth, and her eyebrows shot up.

“WOAH. That is sharp.” Killian giggled, and returned the pop to Carey, who began sucking on it again. Killian’s cheeks turned a light red as she saw Carey begin to eat the lollipop again with no hesitation.

Carey climbed up to her own bunk, “G’night Kil!” 

“Oh, uh, y-yeah.. G-goodnight, Lizardborn.” Killian nervously laughed from below.

In the middle of the night, sleepless again, Carey suddenly gasped and sat up in her bed.  She had shared the lollipop with Killian. She had asked for it, _knowing_ Carey had just been eating it.

It was an indirect kiss.

It was… a  _ subtle _ kiss.

Carey spent another night without sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god thanks everyone for the nice comments! i'll definitely continue the fic i am MOTIVATED and STRONG!!! *flexes lesbian writing muscles*
> 
> i wasnt sure because this is my first serious fic, second fic..ever, and the first one was kinda a writing practice more than a legitimate fanfiction
> 
> enjoy more killarey/sweet flips/killbattle/whatever you call these two gay ladies


	3. +3 Birthday Bonus On Your Next Roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally Killian's birthday, and with that it's time for things to change. Taako makes more fucking macarons, Carey goes temporary perfectionist, and Killian gets the thing she's wanted most in the world for her birthday.

Decorating a room for a birthday party is easy in theory. When the room you’re decorating belongs to three kleptomaniac idiots, it’s nothing less than a goddamn chore. It had been so difficult Carey had to call Killian on her Stone of Farspeech to ask her to delay her arrival by a whole hour. Thankfully, she understood (probably because she heard Taako tripping and dropping several party hats and screaming ‘FUCK ME’ in the background). 

Noelle was in charge of hanging the ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY KILLIAN’ banner across the ceiling, as well as sundry streamers to spice it up.

“...What’s, uh…. What’s that?” Noelle suddenly whirred, motioning her smaller arm to a sack in the corner. Several robotic arms spilled out of it.

Magnus rushed to the corner and threw a sheet over the bag, “NOTHING. IT’S. IT’S NOTHING.”

“Don’t worry Noelle, he would never cut off a friend's arm!” Taako chimed in from his party hat mess.

Magnus just stared at Taako, quirking an eyebrow.

“Ah, he would never cut off a friend’s arm unless they’re literally turning into fucking crystal.” He corrected himself, still gathering the party hats. 

“Y’all are weird.” Carey snorted, setting plates around the table.

She felt this odd compulsion to make sure it looked even; that glass needed to be an inch to the right, the tablecloth needs to be adjusted… Carey’s nerves were wracked over whether or not it was good enough.

Noelle poked her head in after hearing her teammate’s groan of exasperation. 

“Carey? Are you doing alright?” The robot chirped, concern lacing her voice.

“I’m fine, I’m good, it’s just-Does this look good to you Noelle? Is it even? Did I forget anything?” Carey’s tail whapped against the floor (her signature anxiety body language) while she rambled off to Noelle.

“Carey, Carey…” Noelle’s big arm reached down and rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “It’s just fine. Killian will probably be super embarrassed by the sheer effort everyone put in for her.”

The Dragonborn smiled and relaxed, letting her tail rest in place, “Have I ever told you how awesome you are, Noelle?”

“Oh, shucks,” Carey covered the large button on her head, her ‘face’, “If I was still flesh’n’blood like you are, I really WOULD be Noelle **Redcheek** !

Before the moment could get sweeter, Taako ran between them with a plain white box that was then slammed on the table.

“MACARONS.” Taako declared breathlessly.

“...Ok.” Carey stared at the box, “We still have some left over from Candlenights but, uh, ok.”

“Before you go judging a book by it’s cover, check THIS!” The wizard pulled up the lid of the box way too ceremoniously.

Inside the box, a collection of variously decorated macarons were neatly arranged, much to Carey and Noelle’s surprise. A row of the cookies spelled  **“H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y”** across the top of the display, but that wasn’t what caught Carey’s eye the most. Several were decorated to look like ducks, some were robotically designed (For Noelle?), but the others… they were blue and scaley, exactly matching Carey’s own scale color. Some even had her scars across them.

“Taako.” She looked at him blankly.

He didn’t respond, only pointing two finger guns at Carey while winking, and exiting backwards. There was an immediate crash as Taako fell over something behind him.

Carey buried her face in her claws, and Noelle floated over to lay an arm around her, “...For the only reclaimers in the entire Bureau, they’re a bit dense, huh?”

She nodded slowly in reply and closed the box of macarons. 

* * *

It wasn’t long until the guests began arriving; all early to bring their gifts and greet Killian when she was allowed in. As the gifts were laid across the designated table, Carey felt a pang of anxiety. Most of them were neatly wrapped boxes, with one envelope signed by the Director. 

Carey rustled in her bag until she pulled out her gift. The wooden duck was wrapped abysmally; she had no idea she was  **this** bad at wrapping. There were tear marks where her claws dug into the paper, covered in a panic by tape, slight anxiety singes across it, and the real cherry on top was the fact she hadn’t gotten a box, leaving the gift very duck-shaped.

She was about to hide the duck behind a larger box when a familiar, freckled green hand gripped her wrist.

“Uhhh, hold your horses for a second! You sure you don’t want to, like, give that to her yourself, comrade?” Carey turned to meet Taako’s eyes, filled with genuine surprise that she’d try and hide her present away.

“Oh, uh, yeah I will!” She gave a nervous, fanged smile, “And...Uh...Kiss on her cheek, right?”

“Jackpot.” Taako smirked before leaning down to whisper to her, “You, uh, don’t have to do it in front of everyone. You’re radiating anxiety there, pal. You’re a rogue, right? Just do a good stealth roll and sneak her away from everyone, kay?”

“Kay.” Carey’s smile ebbed down from anxiety to genuine content.

Satisfied, he turned to return to the party.

“Wait, Taako!”

He peered over his shoulder, “Hm?”

“Uh….Thank you, Taako. I don’t think I’d have the guts without your help.”

“That’s what I’m here for, baby.”

* * *

 

Carey wasn’t sure if there was a word in any language to describe Killian’s expression when she finally walked through the door. She was pleasantly baffled by the outpouring of birthday wishes from friends, mutual friends, strangers, and the Bureau’s collectively adopted boy detective son. They all placed a cracker-quality paper crown on her head to signify that this; this right here? This is a **birthday** girl. Everything was shoddy, but with the best effort put in, and Killian kept laughing with embarrassment.

“Ready to blow out the candles?” Eventually, Noelle had everyone gather around the table (failing to mention Carey had to use her small ember breath to light the candles in the first place).

After being shoved in front of the cake and sung to despite protest, Killian blew out the candles. The party clapped, and Taako cheered for some reason.

Noelle leaned into Killian, “Hey, what did you wish for?”

“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true!” Killian giggled and noogied her robot friend.

Guests all gathered around once the real party was beginning. Many got their cake and macarons and began chatting around in the kitchen. Carey stood by herself, working herself up to the task. This was it. 

Without giving herself a second doubt, Carey turned and walked up to Killian, tapping her to get her attention.

“Carey! What’s up?” Killian grinned, holding up a duck macaron as if to say ‘ _ look at how cute this is I’m dying inside _ ’.

“Kills! I, uh, wanted to talk to you for a sec! Uhhmm… Alone..?” Carey looked up expectantly.

Killian nodded, still grinning, and looked towards the door to the foyer, “It should be empty in there.” 

The two silently snuck away from the guests into the foyer, which was indeed, thankfully, empty.

Once they were alone, the orc’s grin suddenly fell, “Is everything okay? You were keeping to yourself this whole time, I got worried you were mad at me..”

“What would I be mad for?” Carey’s tail shot up in surprise, not breaking eye contact.

“..I guessed, uh, you were mad at me for gettin’ mad.” Killian scratched her head awkwardly, “Everything’s okay though, right?”

“No, no, no, yeah!” Carey chirped, tiptoeing up to try and begin to reach eye level with Killian, “It’s, uh, right, uh, I got something for you, and it’s, it’s really special! So I wanted to give it to you myself..”

She shot back and rifled through her inventory until pulling out the poorly wrapped duck puzzle. It was presented by extended arms, with Carey looking more nervous than her partner had ever seen her.

Killian stared for a moment, before chuckling, accepting the gift into her arm, and putting a hand on Carey’s head.

“Think I can guess what it is?”

“Nooo way, I wrapped this thing SO discreetly!” Carey pouted defensively.

“Well, I think it’s aaaa...duck!” Killian laughed back, unwrapping the mess of paper and tape.

The duck itself seemed to immediately captivate Killian. Her eyes almost sparkled as she ran a finger down the puzzle portion.

“So, uh, that side! It’s like a slide puzzle, so, if you get all the squares in order, it-it makes a  picture!” Carey scratched the scales on her cheek nervously.

“Carey.”

“..Yeah?”

“I fucking  **love** it.” Killian was already fiddling with the squares on the duck.

Carey let out an all too audible sigh of relief, “Uh, don’t give me all the credit! Mags actually made it for me while I was tutoring him in rogue stuff, sort of an exchange of skill I guess..”

Killian suddenly quirked an eyebrow, “Magnus made this?”

“Yeah.”

“While..  So, when you kept running off to…” Killian touched the carvings lightly again.

Suddenly, she burst into laughter, causing Carey to jump back a bit.

“K-Killian? You good?” 

“Oh. My. I-I thought you ran off like that because you LIKED Magnus and-Oh, I am SO LAME! I can’t believe I actually thought-” Killian laughed, gripping her head in her free hand.

Something clicked in Carey’s mind. If she was going to do this, she was going to do this now.

Carey took a step back, before bounding forward and bouncing up to Killian’s height. 

And in the second that she could reach her, Carey kissed Killian on the cheek (Pecking her with her snout totally counts as a kiss to a Dragonborn).

Everything was silent. Killian’s face showed a gentle pink before raging into a full blown blush as she processed the situation. Carey’s nostrils began to smoke as she too realized she just did that.

“Carey…” Killian stuttered, looking down. The Dragonborn was now covering her face, “...You know, uh, that changes a lot.”

And with that, there went all of  Carey’s silent hopes it would be taken as platonic.

“..That was actually my wish, on uh, on the candles. I wanted to… Well, I wanted to spend time with you like  **this** .”

Carey’s eyes widened, and she lowered her hands from her face, “For real?”

“As real as it gets.” Killian suddenly picked Carey up, positioning her in a familiar bridal style in her arms.

“...What now?” The two stopped and stared into each other’s eyes at Carey’s inquiry. 

“...I guess we take our time and figure it out.” Killian gave a gentle smile before planting a kiss on Carey’s nose.

“Kills? You still like the duck though, right?”

“Hell yeah. I am keeping that forever.”

Nobody noticed after the party when the two snuck home to lay on Killian’s bed and talk about feelings. That was it, just hours of talking before falling asleep on the lower bunk.

Carey put on a pair of sleeping mittens so she didn’t claw Killian or her belongings in her sleep, but when she laid back down on the bed…

Carey slept.

And she slept the whole night through, with a hint of a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY CANDLENIGHTS, HERE'S SOME Gay i procrastinated on im sorry


	4. Angus Mcdonald and the Great Diary Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody has stolen Killian's diary, and it's time for the Boy Detective to figure out who dun it! Carey remembers gender exists, Killian is just straight up pissed. Angus is hot on the case. Taako is up late eating half of one peanut butter cup. Just the half.

“Huh? The fuhhhh-Where did-Carey?”

Carey’s eyes slowly blinked open at the call of her name. She sat up, letting out a large yawn and removing her sleepytime mittens. 

“Hey dude, have you seen my diary?” Killian was up, digging through her drawers for the missing book.

“Nah, I’ve been asleep.” Carey answered, stretching her arms out, “Didya ask...uh...the other one...? Our roommate?”

The elf that bunked with the duo groaned from their perpendicular bed and waved their hand down from the top. “My name is ANDROS, I told you like a million tiiiimes!” 

“Yeah, Andros hasn’t seen it either.” Killian practically buried her face in the drawer.

This situation almost immediately puzzled the two girls as they froze silently for a moment (Andros didn’t care enough to get confused). Killian looked over at her partner, and Carey knew immediately what she was thinking.  _ Did somebody steal it? _

No, no way. Who would even have the motive to steal a diary, and  _ Killian’s _ of all people? An...uh...Andy? Andros, right, Andros didn’t give enough of a sh*t about either of them, and Carey, despite the puppy love crush that had hung over her ever since she saw the orc for the first time, respected Killian’s right to write about her day privately. Noelle barely fit in the dorm, and Boyland was too dead. Actually, theft was looking a lot more likely now.

Carey joined Killian in searching. Looking under their pillows, mattresses, behind drawers, all possible places a little leatherbound book could slip. No dice. Oh, and they didn’t find the diary either.

“I left it right here! What the hell!” Killian exclaimed, throwing her arms out at the open drawer, currently only containing sundry Candlenights gifts and jewelry.

“Okay, I’m not saying somebody may have stolen it… But someone may have stolen it.” 

“Carey, who would even steal my diary?” Killian seemed a bit pissed off, but not at Carey.

“A real dickbag.” Her response was delivered flatly, but at least it made Killian smile a bit.

Killian sighed and grabbed her day clothes, “That’s it, we’re gonna go get Angus.”

The Dragonborn tilted her head, “Ango? Do you think he stole it?”

“Oh no, no, no. No all the way to the astral plane. He might be able to help us find it.”

“Ah.”

“Get dressed, Care-bear. Maybe a mystery will protect Angus from the three for a little bit.”

  
  


It was like something out of a picture book. They found Angus seated in the shade of the largest tree, a bird calling it’s song on a low branch, the boy’s face in a riddle book, and supplied with a healthy apple to snack on. Carey just wanted to adopt him, hardcore. She wanted to adopt the f*ck out of him. Anything to protect this boy. 

“Oh, good morning sir!” Angus lowered his book and smiled as Killian approached, “Oh-I’m sorry, miss!”

Killian giggled and waved her hand dismissively, “You do you, Angus. I’m alright with ‘sir’. Carey?” 

Carey blankly met Killian’s gaze for a moment, completely oblivious. What about her? Was she missing a cue, oh man she was definitely missing a cue. What was it though? Wh-

Her tail shot up as the realization hit her. Oh, the gender thing. Carey forgot about that. It sorta stopped being something she talked about when she joined the Bureau since nobody ever asked to begin with.

“OH! Yeah, I’m alright with ‘sir’ too. It’s cute!” Carey chirped.

“A-Are you sure? Because the Director said I should be careful-and, uh, some people don’t like being called sir!” Angus had abandoned the book entirely on the ground now, standing up (barely coming up to Carey’s shoulders), “She used you as an example, Miss Carey… I don’t wanna h-hurt anybody’s feelings!”

“Ango, it’s chill.” Carey patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

“Really?” Angus was smiling again.

“I’ll tell ya a million times, you can call me sir. Only you, though. It’s only cute when you do it, when other folks do it they’re just being rude because they know that’s wrong. And those folks get the claws.” She ruffled his hair and laughed.

“Hey lil dude, we actually have to ask you something. You see, we have a mystery to solve.” Killian had to bend her knees down to address him directly.

Angus’s eyes brightened as fast as Killian had said the word ‘mystery’.

“Wow! What is it-i-is it a murder? Nobody’s dead right?”

“Somebody will be dead when we solve this.” Killian joked, eliciting a punch in the arm from Carey. She only laughed in response, “Ok, ok, jeez! My diary’s missing and we think someone stole it.”

“Oh gosh, another heist! Well sirs, as a boy detective I think I can help!” Angus chimed, gathering everything into his bag.

“That’s why we came to you. This requires the moon’s best genius and boy detective.” Killian tried to be serious, but she was so obviously holding back a smile that Carey gave an amused snort.

“But.. But I’m the moon’s ONLY boy detective!”

“Exactly, which automatically makes you the best. You in?”

“Yes!!!!!!”

  
  


By the time the trio returned to the dorm to begin investigating, A..An…..Uh… Anpan was already long gone. They probably got called out to work. Carey was pretty sure their name at least began with An. 

Angus dutifully blocked off the crime scene (the one drawer) and looked around inside with a magnifying glass. 

“AHA! I found a clue!” He exclaimed, holding up a single, long hair in his tweezers.

Carey stared at the hair, stumped. It was straight, very light colored, almost platinum blonde. Both Angus’s own hair and Killian’s hair was far curlier and dark. A...Er...Anvil..? Anvil’s hair was straight, but it was jet black. Carey herself didn’t even have hair, she had scales.

“The criminal… isn’t anyone who lives in this room!” Angus had realized this too, albeit a tad late. 

“What do we do now?” Carey was still eyeing the foreign strand of hair.

“Well, a real detective could use magic to trace this hair back to the head it came from! ...But I’m only a boy detective, so… Let’s just look for someone with long and light hair!”

“That description fits a lot of people in the Bureau, Angus…” Killian looked suspiciously in the drawer again.

Carey sat on Killian’s bed as Angus began interviewing Killian for more clues. None of the answers or questions really got them anywhere from that point. She huffed a small billow of smoke and leaned her head against the poles of the bunk. Yeah, Angus was having fun, and that was super awesome and the best motivation to do anything, but Carey was more worried about Killian. This was such a blatant invasion of her privacy, and she’d totally give whoever did that the good ol’ Fangbattle claws. There was a good reason nobody messed with the Fangbattle siblings in their younger years, and the scars on those punks faces spoke a thousand words.

Killian finally turned to Carey after being interrogated for a few more minutes, “Hey, uh, Ango-McMango wants to try asking Taako.”

“Why Taako? He says  _ ‘Pardon me, I’m dumb as hell'  _  whenever he bumps into somebody!” Carey asked, looking at Angus.

“W-Well, I’ve been getting magic lessons from him!” Angus clenched his fists in excitement, “So he’s sorta my mentor now, I guess! And having a mentor and student relationship is all about trust, right?”

“Oh? What kinda magic?” Killian giggled, leaning down to the boy again.

“Transmutation!” The answer was so enthusiastic, both Killian and Carey reeled back. That was the last type of spellcraft that anyone would expect from this puppy in boy’s clothing. They assumed that he’d want magic that would assist in… well, detective..ing! Carey was pretty sure that’s a word.

“Taako does transmutation?” Killian finally snapped back from her surprise.

“He didn’t before but he does now! It’s pretty neat to see!” Angus beamed.

The girls exchanged a glance and an understanding nod. 

“Well, let’s go find him then!” 

  
  


This was ridiculous. They had combed the entire Bureau by now, and there was no sign of Taako. Usually his presence was like a concentration of rainbows bursting out of every seam of his awful outfit, not to mention he was the only person alive to bring an umbrella to the moon. Umbrellas are the least subtle of objects to carry around.

Carey leaned against the wall of the cafe, trying to catch her breath from running all over the moon twice. She could still hear that bird call from somewhere. Why was this bird so-

The bird was perched on a chair outside. Still singing. 

“Maybe he’s on a mission?” Angus suggested hopefully.

“If he was, we would’ve heard the Director call the three over the intercom.” Killian sighed, sitting down in another haphazardly placed chair. 

Carey sat down too, away from the bird. Angus’s enthusiasm fell a bit as he watched two of his many adoptive guardians look so hopeless. Killian just wanted her diary back, Carey just wanted to give someone the old one-two, and Angus just wanted to solve the problem.

“Um-Uh sirs-Can I ask you something?” Angus perked up suddenly, skipping over to their seats. 

Killian’s head rose, “Yeah, lil’ man?”

He paused for a moment, but confidently readjusted his glasses.

“Uh-Well, if you two had a little- a little orcdragon, would they call both of you mom? Or would one of you use your name or-”

“WHO TOLD YOU TH-” Killian slammed her hands on the table, flushing bright red before Carey shot up and gave her an ‘easy, easy’ gesture (while still embarrassed as well).

Angus jumped back slightly, but eased quickly. “Well, during our last lesson Taako said you guys were… ‘A thing’, that’s what he said!”

“Well, Taako needs to mind his own motherfu-UH…” Killian froze. This was a little boy. She almost swore to a little boy. She had to come up with one hell of a save.

“His own what?” He blinked.

“His...His own…uh...b-butterloving business.” She immediately covered her face like she was having regrets before she even spoke. Carey began cackling. 

“What’s-What’s he lovin’ so much about butter now?” Carey wheezed between laughs. 

“Carey, you KNOW why I-” Killian's head swivelled around to the Dragonborn.

“No! No, no no, explain to the boy why Taako just looooves butter! PFT- _BUTTERLOVING!_ THAT’S YOUR BEST SAVE?!?” Carey could not get over this. Tears were streaming down her face, this was going straight into whatever Noelle hears with tomorrow. 

“...Because he cooks, right?” Angus placed a finger to his chin. Carey put her head down on the table and wheezed, slapping her hand against it.

“Angus, let’s go.” Killian got up, still red in the face. “Carey, I’m leaving you here. Forever.”

“No, no wait for me! I’m getting up!”

  
  


Carey was finally catching her breath while the trio began back towards the dorm room. There wasn’t much investigating left to do, and Killian wanted to show Angus the duck puzzle. Killian probably only wanted to show it to him to embarrass Carey and get revenge.

As they walked down the hall, Carey picked up the smallest disturbance behind her and froze. When she turned her head to glance back, there was nothing. So she looked at the floor. It was a bird, but not just any bird, _the same fucking bird._

“Guys-Guys-Um, bird. Bird. There’s. UH-BIRD-” She stumbled all over her words, but it got the other’s attention. 

“...Yeah, uh, that’s a bird.” Killian confirmed.

“No, I saw this bird before! It was on the tree and at the cafe-Dude this bird is following us!” Carey was making desperate motions at the bird. 

“Why would a bird be following us?”

“Because birds can do whatever the fuck they want, homie.”

Carey jumped. The bird just spoke. And it didn’t just speak, it spoke like-

Taako. In a flash of mist, the bird was gone and in it’s place, a particular transmutation wizard stood, umbrastaff in hand.

“TAAKO, what the hell man? We’ve been looking for you!” Killian snapped, putting her hands on her hips.

“Life’s just that way sometimes, you know? Oh, yeah, Killian, I meant to give you this.” Taako reached into his cloak and presented a small, giftwrapped rectangle to her, “Happy late birthday.”

Killian took it curiously and unwrapped it.

“Taako.”

“Yea?”

“This is my diary.”

“Oh yeah, I was borrowing it for a bit of light reading.”

“You stole it. I even got Angus to look for it.”

“Well, now you can stop looking!”

Taako stepped back, and with a curtsy, he flashed in another poof of smoke and a small bird flew back down the hallway.

“ Adiós, amigos!” He called back down, echoing.

“THAT LOOKED FUCKIN” SICK, DUDE!” Carey called back.

Sighing, Killian placed a hand on Carey’s shoulder. They stood there in silence.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Killian smiled.

“Yeah, I feel that.” Carey leaned onto Killian. 

  
  


Carey’s legs ached that night, enough for her to opt to sleep in her own bed. It was quiet for a bit, before Carey burrowed into her sheets and clicked down on her Stone of Farspeech. After quietly instructing it to call Taako, it flashed with a green light.

“Hey, hey, Taako” Carey whispered into the stone.

“Hey, hey. Why are we whispering? We doin’ ASMR?” Taako whispered back.

“What the hell is-No, because I don’t want Kil to hear. Can I ask ya something?”

“Mmmmhm.” Carey heard faint rustling as Taako probably sifted through some kind of snacks.

“Okay, so, like, for transmutation… You can change forms, like you turned into a bird. That was sweet. But, can you.. Uh.. Change up little bits of your body? Like transmutate into a slightly different you?” She whispered hesitantly.

“Uhhhhhh-Depends how. Are you asking if I can just change up my body like _POW_ -Magic?”

“Basically, yeah.”

“Nah. I can, but it takes a lot to transform in the first place. I can’t just walk around with a prettier face without strain!” Taako was clearly eating something, which is rude on a Farspeech call but it’s Taako so nobody can say they don’t expect as much.

“Well, I was kinda talking more about-”

“SECOND, I’m _me_. You know, TAAKO. I was on tv. I’m basically flawless the way I am, my dude.” He was now talking while eating. 

“Okay, I get it.” Carey sighed, “I’ll let you sleep...and eat too, I guess.”

“Why’d you ask?”

She was just about to click the stone off, but the question caught her completely by surprise.

“Uh, just something I was thinking about.”

“You were thinkin’ about the T word?” His tone fell into something more serious.

“...Transmutation? I mea-”

“No no no, send the ‘mutation’ out to lunch, I’m talking about just the trans here.”

“Oh! Um, yeah I sorta remembered that was a thing today. You ever forget?”

“Oh, I forget _EVERYTHING_. Carey, darling, you don’t need transmutation to change your body if you’re asking that. We have that solidarity in each other, yeah? Just trust me on this. It’s a process blah blah blah.”

“...Thanks Taako.”

“NP.”

“...En-P?”

But he had already hung up. She sighed, only to hear a dark elf finally duck back into the dorm.

“Hey Anna.” Carey poked out of her sheets and waved down from her bunk.

“ANDROS.” They said nothing more as they climbed up into their own bed and covered themselves in the sheets.

“Bad day?” Killian groggily sympathized below. 

Andros only let out an exasperated groan and shut off the lights with a muffled ‘Gnite’.

“G’night Carebear.” Killian bumped the bottom of Carey’s bunk.

“Night, butterlover.”

Carey was immediately met with a face full of pillow and ‘OHMYGOD I HATE YOU’s. She only began cackling again. Andros sighed.

 

 

 

As they slept, a letter was silently slipped through the doorframe, not to be read until the next day.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> taakos still alive we can all rejoice
> 
> also just to clarify: this fic isn't going to go too in depth about dysphoria regarding carey, hell by the next day she'll have forgotten again  
> sometimes...u just gotta make the dragon both gay and trans u feel me


	5. Roll For Trouble, Make It Double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As usual, Taako has screwed something up. Kravitz joins in on a da-BUSINESS MEETING. Carey almost goes deaf in Fantasy Costco. Killian is bordering on an existential crisis.

 

There was an envelope on Carey’s face. She had literally just opened her eyes and life was already throwing shit at her. A quick peek around the dorm told her the culprit was A..Agamemnon, who was already gone. Killian was still in her bed, squeezing her stuffed duck. The envelope simply read ‘CAREY’.

Gently, Carey used her claw as a letter opener, and dumped the letter out. She never got letters (except from Scales sometimes), so this was either good news or someone died news.

_ ‘Carey, _

_ I fucked up.  _

_ Here’s the lowdown; I made a reservation at a nice restaurant down on Earth for a meeting with sooommeeonnee, and I just realized I booked for 4 people instead of 2. _

_ Can you help me out here and bring Killian to the docking area tonight? I’ll wait there. _

_ Don’t tell Merle. _

_ -Taako’ _

“We were just talking last night…” Carey breathed, laying her head in her hand, “Why bring it up NOW?”

She jumped down from her bunk and poked Killian awake.

“Kills. Kiiillllsss. Get up, Taako wants to go on a, like, double date or something.” 

Killian rolled over, rubbing her eyes, “Whuh… A double date? Who’s he bringing?”

“I’unno, he didn’t say.” Carey shrugged, “Maybe it’s Brian.”

“Brian died ages ago, dude. I watched, remember?”

“...Oh yeah. Then probably someone else.” Carey nonchalantly threw the letter on a chair behind her.

“...Wait, uh… If we go, would that be...uh… Would that be our first, like, date?” Killian scratched her arm nervously with a light blush spreading on her face.

Carey stopped in her tracks.

“...OH. YEAH, WE’D BE ON A DATE TOO!” She suddenly panicked, slapping her tail against the floor habitually. “HOW DIDN’T I REALIZE THAT?”

At the same time she covered her snout with her hands in embarrassment, Killian got up and pet the back of Carey’s head.

“...I’m down to go, you know. And not just because I wanna know who Taako’s got his eyes on.” Killian smiled nervously.

“Then I’m down too!” Carey blurted a bit too loudly, a bit too quickly.

Laughing, the orc hauled her partner up into her arms bridal style. Carey burst out giggling along with her.

“Is this casual or formal?” Killian asked.

“Oh, he said it’s a nice place. I don’t know how nice, but nice.” 

“Well fuck me, we need to get some nice clothes then!”

“Fantasy Costco?”

“Fantasy Costco.”

 

* * *

 

The clothing aisles were separated by race. The average halfling has different measurements than the average aarakocra, for example, so they couldn’t all be shoved in one place to only be differentiated by size.

There was a very tiny issue with that; all the Dragonborn clothes were HUGE. Carey looked up and down the aisle; the smallest dress was fit for a 6 foot tall dragon. She was barely above 5 feet tall (a strange genetic mutation she shared with her brother), there was good reason Killian called her ‘Lizardborn’.

Carey was so miffed about her stature she didn’t even notice someone come up behind her.

**_“HEY IT’S ME GARFIELD THE DEALLLLLS WARLOCK CAN I HELP YOU!”_ **  The piercing voice boomed behind her and Carey jumped and whipped around.

“Oh-Garfield, you scared me man!” She panted to catch her breath from the scare, “Do you… have any smaller Dragonborn clothes?”

**_“WE HAVE A FINE SELECTION OF CLOTHES YOUR TINY ASS’S SIZE OVER IN THE HUMAN SECTION!_ ** ” Garfield shrieked.

“Uh, no offense but I need Dragonborn clothes. They’re tailored to be tougher so the scales don’t tear them immediately. Human clothes would rip off me like they were made of rice paper.” Carey tilted her head.

**_“WELL THAT’S NOT MY PROBLEM BRO!”_ **

“Yeah it is. Y-You work here, and I’m shopping here, which makes it your problem.”

**_“THERE’S A NICE PINK DRESS IN THE HUMAN SECTION YOUR SIZE!”_ **

“Can you PLEASE stop yelling?! Just once?” Carey was cowering and covering her ears, “And I don’t like pink!”

“ **_WELL I DON’T LIKE EXISTING BUT GUESS WHAT, HERE I AM WORKING IN RETAIL, HAVE YOU EVER WORKED IN RETAIL, FANGBATTLE? IT ROTS YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT! FIRST YOU DIE INSIDE, AND THEN YOU DIE ALL OVER AND YOU’RE STUCK WORKING IN FANTASY COSTCO FOR THE REST OF YOUR FUCKING IMMORTAL LIFE!”_ ** Garfield was inches away from Carey’s face. Carey’s ears were ringing. 

“...I’ll just...I’ll, uh, go grab a tux from the Tiefling section…” She whimpered.

 

She had to sneak into the dressing room to cut a considerably larger tail hole in the new tuxedo, but it was better than being screamed at by Garfield. Even in the closed off room in the back of the store, she could hear him in the clothing aisles, yelling even more. Carey winced; she could only hope it wasn’t Killian trying to get her own clothing. Killian was super strong, yeah, she could handle being yelled at, but Garfield’s yelling transcends space and time. The Raven Queen herself could probably hear him from the Astral Plane. 

Carey left the dressing room as soon as the noise died down. She was beginning to wonder if Garfield would charge extra after noticing her little ‘edit’, when suddenly her Stone of Farspeech glowed bright blue.

“Eyo, Fangbattle at your service.” Carey greeted, then lifted her stone up closer to her ear.

“Carey, it feels like my ears are bleeding.” Killian’s voice rang from the stone.

“KILLS!” Carey quickly took her excitement back, “Oh. Uh. Garfield?”

“Garfield.”

“Yeah, I heard him screaming all the way from the dressing rooms. You good?” 

“Pft, yeah, I’m good. So, I’m leaving right now back to the room, gotta braid my hair, you coming with me?” Killian asked.

“Uh, in a sec. I gotta check out. I’ll catch up.” Carey looked around nervously before holding her Stone close to whisper, “It’s kinda funny, like, you’d think a girl would go out with her best friend to prepare for a date, but  _ you’re _ the best friend and also going on the date. How weird is that?”

Killian chuckled, “I just bought a dress from a floating cat, man. I think _ life _ is just weird.”

 

* * *

  
  


It was silent in the dorm; just the two of them getting dressed and throwing quips at each other when the silence got too unbearable. An..gle wasn’t back yet, but they had left a note on the unoccupied bunk saying that there’d be a fourth roommate taking the still fairly newly open bed. Carey didn’t want to say anything about it; she tried to distract herself with her bow tie. 

“...Doesn’t it kinda hurt?” Killian finally asked from her mirror, braiding her hair instead of her usual daily dreadlocks.

“The roommate?” Carey flinched as she noticed her claws had already ripped the tie.

“Yeah, it’s… It’s a bit early. Andros said it’s a new regulator too. I guess The Director’s just-...nevermind.” She lowered her head, and Carey turned to look at the orc.

“She’s what?” 

“...It’s like she’s trying to replace Boyland, okay?” Killian whipped around suddenly, “It’s barely been three weeks and Noelle joined our team and now someone’s taking his bed!”

Killian’s face fell from the sudden outburst; her eyes bleary. The worst of it all was that Carey couldn’t try to assure her it wasn’t the case. They both had watched what happens after someone’s life is lost and erased by the Voidfish. Mourning hits Bureau members for a bit, and then new recruits show up and it almost seems as if the Voidfish had taken their memories as well, leaving nothing but someone they used to know in the back of their mind. 

She stepped forward to hug Killian, but ended up just falling into her arms instead; “Kills..”

“I’m… always so afraid of losing you on a mission. I wouldn’t even be able to watch the Voidfish take your memories away.” Killian mumbled.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere, bro. You worry a lot, doncha?”

“I have damn good reason to!” Carey felt Killian squeeze her tighter, “You’re… You’re just really reckless sometimes, you know? And you can’t even remember Andros’s name most days, what if you forget something really important like Boyland did and end up DEAD?”

Carey froze in her grip. The words felt so familiar to her, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that Killian had already-...

“CAMP GOODFRIEND!” Carey gasped suddenly, looking straight up to meet her partner’s eyes.

“What?”

“When we all had to do the-the uh, the constructive criticism! That’s what you said to me back there! It was-I guess I didn’t really improve, huh?”

Killian’s grip loosened slowly until her arms slowly slipped off of Carey.

“...I’d say remembering at all is an improvement.” Killian tried to casually rub her eyes like she totally wasn’t crying, “...Hey do you, uh, do you wanna go and get that double date on?”

“Yeah! Let’s just forg-oh god, no, not forget, that’s the wrong word nope-push it aside and just go see Taako?” Carey swished her tail back and forth. 

“Alriiiight, let’s just go have fun and ignore the implications of our existences being erased, just like everyday ever.” Smiling a bit, Killian opened the door.

“HELL YEAH, EXISTENTIALISM!” Carey hollered, almost tripping out the door. Killian laughed.

The Bureau was lifeless as they walked down past darkened buildings to the hangar. Nobody chatting, nobody running to get to their post, it was all silent, save for the dynamic duo joking their way out of the gutter. Their conversations jumped everywhere, but they definitely weren’t thinking about the Voidfish that night.

“No, for real though, does this tuxedo make me look like a dude?” Carey had led the conversation to another leap.

“You know what you look like? You look like a dragon in a tux.” Killian rolled her eyes.

“Wow, thanks! I’ve always wanted someone to look at me and think ‘Yeah, that’s a dragon’.” Carey huffed before immediately getting elbowed and falling into a fit of giggles.

Entering the hangar so late was odd at best, and absolutely uncanny at worst. It was dark, empty, and almost silent if not for the soft echo of nervous shuffling nearby one of the orbs. As they approached, Taako poked his head out from behind the glass sphere, and leapt out to greet them.

The first thing Carey noticed was Taako’s outfit. This would be normal, since Taako dressed extra everyday, but this was different. He wasn’t wearing any clashing colors; his loose shoulder-less top actually matched his ridiculous pink skirt for once. He even took off his tall wizard’s hat for the event. It was… presentable. It looked like actual careful consideration was placed into getting dressed rather than throwing shit on and looking great anyways.

“Geez, you sure we’re just meeting up with your ‘friend’, there?” Killian laughed.

Taako pouted playfully; “You’re certainly one to talk. Even got the nice boots.”

“Damn straight.” Killian grinned. She was wearing her nicer black boots with her formal dress.

“There is absolutely nothing straight here, my man.” Taako quipped, sending all three of them into laughter.

“Hah-hang on, what?” Killian’s question was ignored as Taako pushed the sphere open and jumped in.

Carey and Killian both climbed in and seated themselves in the back. Taako immediately gunned for the helm, mumbling incantations to himself to activate the launch without Avi’s help. The glass sphere rumbled, then the hangar doors creaked open, and suddenly they were thrust out into the sky.

“...Taako, do you know how to steer these?” Killian asked, tensing up against the seat.

“Oh, hell no. But don’t try and grab the steering wheel or we’re going right to Oceantown, homie.”

 

You can probably guess that they crashed the sphere.

The three emerged on the outskirts of Neverwinter’s Blacklake District; lit up beautifully in the night with the snow sparkling in the light. Carey’s eyes lit up at the sight. It wasn’t often that she saw Neverwinter, especially at night when the lights illuminated the city.

Killian wasn’t doing quite as well. She stumbled out of the orb and heaved for a few moments before finally catching up to Taako and Carey. It had obviously been a while since she was in an orb crash. Carey rubbed her back as they entered Blacklake.

Taako took the head, leading his companions down the streets of the posh district until he finally stopped at a very sleek looking restaurant. 

“Uh… Taako? Are you sure we’ll be able to afford this place? I mean, we ARE in the Blacklake District…” Killian mumbled nervously.

“Psshhh-Nah homie, I’ll be paying. We killed this dude the other day who was _ loaded _ and I-” Before Taako finished, Carey pinched his cheek hard.

“No talking about murder in public!” Carey scolded.

Inside the place, Killian and Carey couldn’t help but immediately feel out of place. Everyone was wearing high end fashion, drinking wine, and talking about business. They were wearing formal clothes from Fantasy Costco (with Carey’s tie still being slightly ripped) and had no clue what anyone was saying at all.

Taako spoke a bit with the greeter, who proceeded to lead them to a table for four. Someone was already sitting there. They saw Taako and immediately lit up and stood to greet him.

Carey couldn’t help but notice something odd as the two exchanged the usual  _ ‘It’s been so long since the last blah blah blah’ _ blather. Taako’s “friend” was strikingly familiar. A proper suit, dark yet sickly skin, the peculiar accent…

“HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE THE REAPER GUY!” Carey jumped suddenly. Taako quickly thrust his hand over her snootle with a desperate  _ ‘shhhh’  _ noise.

“...Oh my god, you’re right.” Killian’s eyes widened, taking a step back.

“...He’s got a name, my pals. It’s Kravitz.” Taako hissed.

Kravitz hadn’t really been shocked by the girls’ reaction; he just lifted his hand and rubbed the side of his head.

“Oh, Taako, it’s alright. Last time I saw these two, I was tryin’ to reap your friends souls! Pretty natural reaction, I’d say.” He chuckled, motioning for the party to all sit down.

Taako sat next to Kravitz, letting their accompanying date sit next to each other as well. 

“...Okay, now I get why you told me not to tell Merle.” Carey said.

“Well, that’s funny, we were going to talk over the whole bounty thing together but…” Kravitz looked at Taako.

“...It was a typo! I didn’t mean to make TWO reservations for two!” Taako tried to seriously defend himself, but cracked up throughout it.

“What’s a typo?” Kravitz’s question was ignored.

Carey laughed and laid her head in her hand, “So you get all up in his business with Evard’s Black Tentacles and then you go on a date?”

“NOT A DATE-This is a business meeting, Carey. You’re the one on a date.” Taako replied.

“Dude, two of us aren’t wearing pants and two of us are wearing full suits. That is the uniform of a date. One doesn’t bother to wear pants and the other wears pants anyways.” Killian grinned back at Taako. He stuck his tongue out at her in reply.

Taako ordered four glasses of red wine for everyone, and they all accepted the wine out of fear that if they rejected it, Taako would drink it. Nobody wanted to be responsible for a drunk elf getting kicked out of the restaurant for an intoxicated summoning of an incorporeal binicorn again.

“I’m sorry, Taako, but would you mind if I, uh… talk to Carey and Killian as well? It has been a while.” Kravitz asked, clearly giving up on his accent as the night went on.

“How do you know our names?” Killian sunk back into the booth.

“Killian, he’s a reaper.” Carey placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Exactly. Killian, um… Have you seen your aunt lately?” Kravitz immediately regretted his entire existence.

“My Aunt Susan? Nnnnoo?” She took a inquisitive sip of wine.

“I’ve seen her-I mean, she’s not dead, uh, she just keeps… AVOIDING me, y’know? The whole bounty thing. Just clarifying, she’s alive.” He sputtered, “...I’m sorry, I’m usually pretty good at conversation. Susan Crushbone isn’t dead. Not yet, uh… Nevermind, I’ll just keep talking to Taako.”

Taako giggled like it had been the most charming thing he’d ever seen. Killian was now sipping her wine with a mortified expression at the implication her aunt was on a metaphorical death row.

“...SO, TAAKO!” Kravitz, now flustered, placed his undivided attention on working out the bounties with Taako, leaving the girls alone on their side of the table.

Carey slowly scooched closer to her date, trying not to scrunch her nose at the taste of the wine. She wasn’t exactly an alcohol person by any means, but it’d be rude not to drink something her friend was paying for. The food Taako ordered for everyone was...interesting. Roasted Kobold tails with a side of detoxified cave kale for garnish wasn’t exactly something Carey saw every day. Her dinner was usually a bag of Fantasy Cheetos, and the mere high class look of the dish made her feel horribly out of place. Plus, aren’t Kobolds just a tiny her?

“...Are you okay? You haven’t touched your food...” Killian looked over at Carey with concern.

“I’m fiiiine, I am. So good right now. Sssso good.” Carey, a usually sober woman, had just finished a glass of wine on an empty stomach. There were approximately 7 things that could go wrong with that combination. 

“Oh, you finished already? How’d the wine taste?” Taako obviously had a higher tolerance.

“...You’re drinking the same wine, shouldn’t you… uh, know how it tastes?” Kravitz paused to look over at the wizard.

Agonizingly slowly, he turned to face Kravitz with an empty, glazed smile on his face; “It tasted like fucking Go-Gurt. Everything tastes like fucking Go-Gurt.”

“How… How do you live like that?” Kravitz let out a shaky whisper.

“I don’t.” Taako winked both eyes simultaneously.

After a moment of silence, Killian finally stood from her seat.

“WELL, I think this night’s over. It was… Uh, nice properly meeting you, Kravitz.” Killian rushedly grabbed Carey to her feet.

 

Before they knew it, the two girls were walking alone in the night towards their crashed  orb. Taako could get home his damn self.

“Kill-Kills...Killian...Why’re we goooin’ home sho early?” Carey slurred.

“I’ve been on enough bad dates to tell when shit’s goin downhill.”  Killian sighed, flipping open the door to the sphere.

“..Did I do something wrong?” Carey squirmed out of Killian’s arms, trying her best to enunciate clearly.

“OH, no, no, no-no. I’d just rather be on a date… Like, you know, just US, and not including the damn Grim Reaper. Or Taako.” Killian patted  Carey’s head lightly, “Also I need to write my Aunt Susan now.”

Carey stumbled into the backseat as the orb was set to rise back up and towards the Bureau.

“...Shho that first date kiiinda shucked, huhhh?” She slurred.

“I’m just not gonna count that as a date.” Killian laughed.

“...Can we get existenn...existenshul again when we get home?”

“Hell yeah, let’s get DEPRESSED!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY ABOUT HOW LATE THIS WAS  
> school got so bad and i broke my wrist, but alls cool now enjoy some lesbians trying to live their damn lives


	6. School Daze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a really weird day for our heroines. Merle fails, Carey and Taako fight, and Johann calls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter will make sense only if you've listened to the austin liveshow!
> 
> sorry for the wait, here's more girls for you all!

Every high school has a power couple. A couple every student aspires to emulate, one that transpires the puppy love that comes with puberty.  
At Neverwinter High, this couple was Killian and Carey.  
Freshman year, they made a pact that if they were both single by senior year, they’d hook up. They barely lasted 3 months before they sealed the deal.  
Carey yawned and stretched from her dorm bunk. This morning felt a bit odd compared to every morning before. Huh. Maybe Killian felt it.  
“Kills, Kiiillllssss!” Carey preened, slithering up to Killian’s bunk.  
“Just five more minutes…” Killian groaned, turning to meet Carey’s gaze.  
“Do you feel weird? I feel weird.”   
“Not right now, it’s like 6 and I’m still tired from last night.”  
“Nononono, I mean, wweeeeiiiiirrrddd, y’know? Like the weed Boyland sells weird.”   
Killian sat up in bed. She was wearing a tank top that simply read “SPORTS”, alongside appropriate shorts.  
“Well, now that you mention it, things are a bit… fucky today.” She shrugged, scratching her scalp, “But if we dwell on this weed-weird stuff, we’ll be late for Music Appreciation.”  
“Get dressed then, dork! We gotta do our presentation on ‘American Boy’!” Carey took Killian’s pillow and whacked her with it.  
Killian laughed, retorting by smothering Carey in the blanket.

\---

“So, ya bombed it.” Taako took a bite of his sandwich.  
Around the lunch table, six people were seated. Killian and Carey sat across from Taako and Magnus, and Merle sat beside Boyland (the pair exchanged dubious Botany projects).  
“I tried to fix it!” Merle insisted, gesturing at the air, “You’re supposed to be kind to plants to nurture them!”  
“You were stroking it. Stroking. Right in front of Lucy, too.” Boyland huffed.  
“That’s being kind, asshole! This is a Zone of No Kinkshaming!” Merle protested, “Not my fault Lucretia’s in the front row.”  
Carey rested her head against Killian’s shoulder. Killian sighed and wrapped her arm around the dragon’s waist.  
“Shoulda put some of your “special spice” in the fertilizer, dude.” Carey teased.  
Boyland elbowed Merle, and was promptly slapped in return. The table burst into uproarious laughter. As the laughter died down, Magnus suddenly stiffened.  
“Killian, Carey, you should-”  
“Ahem.”  
The pair turned to meet the eyes of a dark, tall student, wearing all black.   
Fuck.   
The teacher’s pet, Kravitz.  
“Another day of breaking the PDA rules, hm, lovebirds?” Kravitz had to lean down a bit to make eye contact with Carey.  
“Ugh.” Merle said.  
“This guy again.” Magnus said.  
“Hey Krav-Krav~” Taako said.  
“Taako.” Kravitz replied sternly, but it was clear he was blushing.  
“Leave them alone. This whole damn school ships Killarey, you know it, I know it, you probably ship it too.” Magnus pointed at Kravitz.  
“Is your mom still mad at Merle for bringing special brownies to the bake sale?” Carey inquired, getting a crisp nod from Kravitz.  
“Why dont’cha have a seat? We were just ragging on Merle; your favorite hobby!” Taako winked, scooting over and patting an empty space on the bench.  
He hesitated, but Kravitz sat down beside Taako.   
The two had a “will-they-won’t-they” thing going on that the whole high school knew about. Unfortunately, Krav’s mother was on the PTA, as was Taako’s aunt. Kravitz’s mom didn’t approve of Taako smoking, skipping class, and trying to influence her boy. Taako’s aunt didn’t approve of how uptight Kravitz was, and wished he could wind down a bit.  
Ultimately, a match made in heaven.  
Killian’s aunt used to be on the PTA, but she got kicked out for starting a fist fight over the prom budget. Carey’s family didn’t interact with the school. Her brother didn’t even go to Neverwinter, he went to Phandalin High. The Fangbattles didn’t really approve of Carey’s choices in life, so she went her own road. Bunking with her super hot girlfriend, running the track team, hanging out with the self proclaimed THB; Carey thought she basically had it made.  
Now, the table had two simultaneous acts of awkward pubescent PDA going on at once. Taako’s hands brushed against Kravitz’s. Carey slung her arm around Killian’s shoulder.  
Taako narrowed his eyes. To him, that was a challenge. He grabbed Kravitz’s hand completely.  
“Oh, you wanna go????” Carey rose, wrapping her arms as much as she could around Killian’s bigger frame.  
Taako stood up, holding his and Kravitz’s hands in the air. Carey practically climbed Killian in response. Taako held Kravitz’s other hand. Carey nuzzled Killian.  
Just as Taako was going to end the battle, his lips so so so close to Kravitz’s, the bell rang.  
“I’ll get you back in gym.” Carey hissed, climbing off her now very flustered girlfriend.  
“Yeah, right.” Taako huffed, walking off to leave a red faced Kravitz sputtering about the PDA rules.

\---

Basketball. Not Killian’s best sport, but Carey had the lithe skills to carry the team. They formed a trio with their halfling classmate, Noelle Redcheek. Noelle was tiny with a natural blush that made her look like a doll. She was good friends with the couple, and they’d fight to the goddamn death for her.  
“Team Sweet Flips, you’ll be up against Team Starblaster.” The coach called out.  
Carey turned. Team Starblaster was Lucretia, Barry, and Taako’s sister Lup. Lup liked to flirt with both her teammates. It resulted in them losing, but she didn’t care.  
This was gonna be awesome.  
But things don’t quite always work out.  
Next thing they knew, they were padded, armed, and fighting fucking zombies.  
Now Carey understood why the day had felt weird.  
But it was still awesome.  
After what felt like forever of battling alongside their three dear friends to save the gym class, Carey heard a sudden voice.   
“Hello? Hello! Carey?”  
Carey jolted up.   
She was back in her dorm at the Bureau, above Killian. Her Stone of Farspeech was going off.  
“Johann?” She picked up the stone.  
“There we go. The boys are back.” Johann explained.  
Carey leapt out of her bed, a grin spread across her face. She shook Killian awake excitedly.  
“Kills! Kills! Wake up, they’re back!” Carey squealed.  
This mission was said to be particularly hard, and Carey conspired with Magnus to take them all out drinking afterwards.  
Killian rose, rubbing her eyes, “Okay, okay, gimme a sec.”  
Carey gave Killian a peck on the cheek.  
“Of course.”


End file.
